NEWS & CITY LIFE
O p-Ed | By Barry Fain & Steve Triedman
Brown Deals With Its Past. Now How About The Present? Following land acknowledgement in May, a reflection on what Brown can do for Providence
The Van Wickle Gates at Brown University
14
ProvidenceOnline.com • July 2022
Fool’s joke on its readers, much as we used to do every spring in the early years of East Side Monthly, this magazine’s predecessor. But in fact, the story detailed an open letter to the Brown community by President Christina Paxson summarizing the result
of a year-long study conducted by a dedicated group made up of students, faculty, school administrators, and the tribe itself. It also produced an impressive list of commitments Brown has pledged to work towards in regard to this land acknowledgement.
Photo by Savannah Barkley
“Brown publicly acknowledges university sits on Narragansett tribe’s ancestral land,” screamed the headline on the front page of the Providence Business News’ May 24 issue. To some, it sounded as though the normally staid newspaper was playing a belated April
